portfolio
/pɔːtˈfəʊlɪəʊ
/noun (plural portfolios)
1A large, thin, flat case for loose sheets of paper such as drawings or maps: under his arm he carried a large portfolio of drawings...
- Then she started picking up folders, portfolios, drawings, papers, everything important that she could find and locked it in her cabinet.
- His fingers lost their iron grip, and the portfolio with the drawing paper fell to the ground, with my portrait landing at my feet.
- I took my favorite drawings out of the portfolio and hung them as well.
1.1A set of pieces of creative work intended to demonstrate a person’s ability to a potential employer: she had a portfolio of crayon portraits...
- Part of their course work involves creating actual marketing pieces for their portfolios.
- Since earning her graduate degree from Yale only two years ago, Katy Grannan has compiled an impressive portfolio of portraits.
- In the midst of this fabulous display the patron and other gentlemen examine a portfolio while a young art student draws from the assembled works.
1.2A varied set of photographs of a model or actor intended to be shown to a potential employer: entrants must not have done any professional modelling or have an existing portfolio...
- Mark then started hiring models from agencies to photograph for his own portfolio.
- The others are more general, and all of them are interspersed with portfolios of photographs by various photographers.
- We pay for our own photographs for our portfolios, and then for the hours and hours we need to be just available.
2A range of investments held by a person or organization: a portfolio of insured municipal securities...
- Dividend reinvestment plans, or DRIPs, allow investors to build investment portfolios by reinvesting dividends into more shares.
- I used to have a fair portion of my investment portfolio allocated to bonds.
- To be sure, much global finance reflects growing investment portfolios, some doubtless with a speculative component.
2.1A range of products or services offered by an organization: an unrivalled portfolio of quality brands...
- I liaise with end-users, resellers and partners to see how we can improve our portfolio of products and services.
- He added that the assurance that the enlarged portfolio of products and services and access to a broader target market base will offer growth opportunities to all investors.
- And, we have a common commitment to deliver integrated solutions, open systems and architecture, and the broadest portfolio of products and services.
3 [as modifier] Denoting or engaged in an employment pattern which involves a succession of short-term contracts and part-time work, rather than the more traditional model of a single job for life: portfolio careers allow women to balance work with family...
- The other term I coined a few years ago was portfolio career - portfolio jobs and portfolio workers - and that seems to have become accepted as a respectable thing to be.
- Many doctors have portfolio careers - for example, having a post in general practice and in a hospital.
- In the era of downsizing and portfolio careers, work no longer provides a secure economic or social identity.
4The position and duties of a Minister or Secretary of State: he took on the Foreign Affairs portfolio...
- However, he has been retained as a Cabinet minister without a portfolio.
- Some Cabinet ministers whose portfolios are related to the forum's subject did not attend the meeting.
- Timbul was given a position without a portfolio as an expert staff assigned to the minister.
Origin
Early 18th century: from Italian portafogli, from portare 'carry' + foglio 'leaf' (from Latin folium).